Paducah

Paducah is a city in Kentucky and the county seat of McCracken County. It was first settled in 1821 as "Pekin" and laid out by William Clark in 1827 under the name "Paducah", named for the Comanche (known to the Spanish as "padoucas"). It was formally established as a town in 1830 and incorporated as a city in 1838, and it grew in size as a port and railroad city. It became a hub of the Illinois Central Railroad, and it was occupied by the Union from the very start of the American Civil War. From 1952 to 2013, Paducah was home to a uranium enrichment plant, and the National Quilt Museum opened there in 1991. In 2018, Paducah had a population of 24,850 people.